ScienceDaily: Top Environment News

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• Egypt: Sarcophagus leads to the tomb of a previously unknown pharaoh, from 3,600 Years Ago
• Genomes of modern dogs and wolves provide new insights on domestication
• Violence, infectious disease and climate change contributed to Indus civilization collapse
• Understanding collective animal behavior may be in the eye of the computer
• Altering the community of gut bacteria promotes health and increases lifespan
• Ice-loving sea anemone discovered beneath the Ross Ice Shelf
• Megafloods: What they leave behind
• The way to a chimpanzee's heart is through its stomach
• Novel technology reveals aerodynamics of migrating birds flying in a V-formation
• Stem cells overcome damage in other cells by exporting mitochondria
• Meltwater from Tibetan glaciers floods pastures
• Symphony of life, revealed: New imaging technique captures vibrations of proteins, tiny motions critical to human life
• Hugging hemes help electrons hop
• DNA detectives able to 'count' thousands of fish using as little as a glass of water
• Genes and calls reveal five-fold greater diversity of Amazon frog species
• How scorpion gets its sting
• Medical imaging helps reveal lasting impacts of soil compaction

Egypt: Sarcophagus leads to the tomb of a previously unknown pharaoh, from 3,600 Years Ago Posted: 16 Jan 2014 04:03 PM PST Archaeologists working at the southern Egyptian site of Abydos have discovered the tomb of a previously unknown pharaoh: Woseribre Senebkay -- and the first material proof of a forgotten Abydos Dynasty, ca. 1650-1600 BC.

Genomes of modern dogs and wolves provide new insights on domestication Posted: 16 Jan 2014 04:01 PM PST Dogs and wolves evolved from a common ancestor between 9,000 and 34,000 years ago, before humans transitioned to agricultural societies, according to an analysis of modern dog and wolf genomes from areas of the world thought to be centers of dog domestication.

Violence, infectious disease and climate change contributed to Indus civilization collapse Posted: 16 Jan 2014 01:20 PM PST A study of skeletal remains from the ancient city of Harappa provides evidence that inter-personal violence and infectious diseases played a role in the demise of the Indus Civilization.

Understanding collective animal behavior may be in the eye of the computer Posted: 16 Jan 2014 10:10 AM PST An international team of researchers is the first to successfully apply machine learning toward understanding collective animal behavior from raw data such as video without tracking each individual. The findings stand to significantly impact the field of ethology -- the objective study of animal behavior -- and may prove as profound as the breakthroughs that allowed robots to learn to recognize obstacles and navigate their environment.

Altering the community of gut bacteria promotes health and increases lifespan Posted: 16 Jan 2014 10:06 AM PST Having the right balance of gut bacteria may be the key to enjoying a long healthy life. Scientists promoted health and increased lifespan in Drosophila by altering the symbiotic relationship between bacteria and the absorptive cells lining the intestine. The work provides a model for studying diseases associated with the aging gut, and how we go from having a young, healthy gut to one that is old and decrepit.

Ice-loving sea anemone discovered beneath the Ross Ice Shelf Posted: 16 Jan 2014 10:04 AM PST Biologists have discovered new species of sea anemone while using a camera-equipped robot to explore the waters beneath 250-meter thick Ross Ice Shelf.

Megafloods: What they leave behind Posted: 16 Jan 2014 08:35 AM PST South-central Idaho and the surface of Mars have an interesting geological feature in common: amphitheater-headed canyons. Researchers offer a plausible account that all these canyons were created by enormous floods.

The way to a chimpanzee's heart is through its stomach Posted: 16 Jan 2014 08:35 AM PST Researchers measured the urinary oxytocin levels in wild chimpanzees after food sharing and found them to be elevated in both donor and receiver compared to social feeding events without sharing. Furthermore, oxytocin levels were higher after food sharing than after grooming, another cooperative behavior, suggesting that food sharing might play a more important role in promoting social bonding.

Novel technology reveals aerodynamics of migrating birds flying in a V-formation Posted: 16 Jan 2014 08:29 AM PST Researchers using custom-built GPS and accelerometer loggers attached to free-flying birds on migration, have gained ground-breaking insights into the mysteries of bird flight formation.

Stem cells overcome damage in other cells by exporting mitochondria Posted: 16 Jan 2014 05:50 AM PST A research team has identified a protein that increases the transfer of mitochondria from mesenchymal stem cells to lung cells. The researchers reveal that the delivery of mitochondria to human lung cells can rejuvenate damaged cells. The migration of mitochondria from stem cells to epithelial cells also helps to repair tissue damage and inflammation linked to asthma-like symptoms in mice.

Meltwater from Tibetan glaciers floods pastures Posted: 16 Jan 2014 05:50 AM PST Glaciers are important indicators of climate change. Global warming causes mountain glaciers to melt, which, apart from the shrinking of the Greenlandic and Antarctic ice sheets, is regarded as one of the main causes of the present global sea-level rise. Tibet's glaciers are also losing mass clearly, as scientists reveal using satellite-based laser measurements. Over the last decade, the research team has detected a "clear loss in mass of around 16 gigatons a year in around 80 percent of the Tibetan glaciers," says a glaciologist.

Symphony of life, revealed: New imaging technique captures vibrations of proteins, tiny motions critical to human life Posted: 16 Jan 2014 05:48 AM PST Like the strings on a violin or the pipes of an organ, the proteins in the human body vibrate in different patterns, scientists have long suspected. Now, a new study provides what researchers say is the first conclusive evidence that this is true.

Hugging hemes help electrons hop Posted: 15 Jan 2014 02:26 PM PST Researchers simulating how certain bacteria run electrical current through tiny molecular wires have discovered a secret nature uses for electron travel. This is the first time scientists have seen this evolutionary design principle for electron transport,

DNA detectives able to 'count' thousands of fish using as little as a glass of water Posted: 15 Jan 2014 02:22 PM PST A mere glass full of water from Monterey Bay Aquarium's 1.2 million-gallon Open Sea tank, among the 10 largest aquariums in the world, is all scientists really needed to identify the Pacific Bluefin tuna, dolphinfish and most of the other 13,000 fish swimming there.

Genes and calls reveal five-fold greater diversity of Amazon frog species Posted: 15 Jan 2014 07:01 AM PST DNA is opening a new age of discovery of Amazonian frog species. A detailed genetic survey of populations of two species of Amazonian frogs made by Ecuadorian biologists has documented the existence of up to nine hidden new species.

How scorpion gets its sting Posted: 14 Jan 2014 05:29 PM PST A new study provides the first functional evidence for an evolutionary connection between insect defensins and scorpion ±-KTxs, and how one small genetic mutation leads to a new protein function to give scorpions their deadly sting.

Medical imaging helps reveal lasting impacts of soil compaction Posted: 14 Jan 2014 10:07 AM PST While subsoil compaction is easy to ignore because it's hard to see, it definitely deserves more study.

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